There’s much to discuss on this month’s episode of Hyperspace Theories. Tricia, B.J., and Kay begin with a quick look at the recent Star Wars news since our last episode, including reports of Keri Russell and Billy Dee Williams joining the cast of Episode IX, updates to the Lucasfilm corporate website, and the delay of Indiana Jones 5.

For the meta segment, we revisit a foundational topic in Star Wars – the Force – from the perspective of the third storytelling trio in The Last Jedi: Rey, Luke, and Kylo Ren. In addition to those characters, the movie and other recent Star Wars tales reveal more insight into the nature of the light side and dark side, and the role of the Jedi Order as an institution in serving, sometimes unsuccessfully, the principle of balance in the Force. We also share our thoughts on some points raised in discussions among online Star Wars fandom on these topics.

The storytelling segment centers on the Hero’s Journey for Han in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Unlike the other films of the Disney era, Solo draws upon the classical monomyth framework described by Joseph Campbell, rather than the modern cinematic model developed by Christopher Vogler. This has interesting implications for the structure of the story as well as the portrayals of the main characters.

Our world-building segment focuses on an article from Tom & Lorenzo analyzing Rey’s costumes in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Their insights include the symbolism of the colors and clothing styles, as well as interconnections with costumes in previous Star Wars movies for Luke, Han, and Leia.